copyright 2008 Cheryl K. Hosken, BSN, MS Psych.
Theological Foundations of Healing
Caring by Christians grows from understanding God's nature. Caring is powered by experiencing and receiving God's love and care for us. Those who have experienced hope in the midst of pain and who are able to grow into wholeness in the middle of hurt are called to be caregivers.
Belief that God cares for us is a major theme of the Bible. God's love and care is seen in creation where the universe and persons are born, given the resources to survive, and nurtured. We read about these facts in Romans 1:19-20 and Psalm 8. God's love and care are seen in His covenant where freedom replaces slavery and grace heals broken relationships. The prophet Isaiah remembered the covenant of God when Israel was suffering in exile in Babylon by saying, "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine" (Is. 43:1). Also when the prophets spoke of what ailed Israel, it was not disease. They did not talk so much of use of herbs, oils, or mixed formulas. They talked of God's love and the need to obey the covenant that was established so that they would experience inner healing and physical health.
Question 1: Would you call yourself a caregiver? Why?
Jesus offered a new covenant in His blood for us, so that we might remember Him. Hebrews ch. 8-12 explains how Jesus instituted a new covenant. Jesus announced his mission was to give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, mobility to the crippled, and healing of the lepers. Preaching the GOOD NEWS of the Kingdom was an equally important message of His life. God's love and care became a living form in Jesus Christ.
Question 2: What difficult experience have you had that showed you God's love for you?
God's love and care continues to be expressed through the Body of Christ (I Corinthians 12). All who name the name of Christ, ordained and non-ordained, have been entrusted with Jesus' ministry of caring. Caring is an expression of the "ministry of all believers" and indeed, in Ephesians 2:10, we are told that we are created in Christ Jesus to do good works that God prepared IN ADVANCE for us to do. Caring is part of the "priesthood of all believers."
Question 3:
What gifts have you seen in the Church (1 Cor. 12) that show care for others?
(Select the best answer.)
The gifts of wisdom and knowledge (v. 8).
The gifts of healing, miracles and helps (verses 9-10 and 28).
The gifts of tongues and interpretation of tongues (v. 10).
Further, it is God who started all of this caring. As it says in I John 4:9, "We love Him because He first loved us." Caring is not simply what good Christians do. Rather, caring for people who hurt or have lost much is a natural response to God's caring for us. 1 Peter 2:9-10 says "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people that you may declare the wonderful deeds of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were no people but now you have received mercy".
Question 4: Who are the people in Eph. 4:11-12 who have these gifts of caring?
(Select the best answer.)
Apostles and prophets.
Evangelists and teachers.
Pastors and other saints who are prepared to serve.
God also gives gifts to believers to help them care for others. The Church or the Body of Christ is able to fulfill a ministry of caring because God has given the necessary gifts to the members of His Body. God is the source of skills, talents, and abilities that are necessary for caring. Members of the Body of Christ are called to discover, encourage, and personally develop those gifts for a caring ministry.
Question 5: Why do people think only pastors need these gifts?
Some of the gifts that God gives for caring are the ability to listen, to nurture, to accept, to be honest, to be available, to be patient, to keep confidences, to learn from one's own experiences of hurt, to identify with one another, and to be able to speak words of hope in the middle of hurt and loss.
At times those people who have those gifts do not always recognize they have them. It then becomes the responsibility of the members of the Body to challenge the potential in persons, inspire them, support them, and provide training and practice so that their gifts might blossom and grow. The gifts can then be used to bring wholeness where there is brokenness. "As each has received a gift, use it for one another as good stewards of God's grace. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God will be praised through Jesus Christ" - 1 Peter 4:10-11.
Question 6: What gifts has God given you to care for the Body of Christ in your country?
Caregivers do not view hurting persons as being sick or troubled while they see themselves as strong and healthy. The most effective caregivers are those who are aware of their own pain, who have learned from their experiences, and who have grown toward healing. Persons we minister to are simply those who are experiencing a significant hurt or loss on life's journey. The purpose of caring is to talk to these persons in such a way that they too may experience a glimmer of hope and be enabled to grow toward healing.
Question 7: Read Job 2:11-13 - what did Job's friends do when they came to visit him?
(One or more of the following answers may be correct.)
They brought him flowers and candy, chatted a few minutes and left.
They grieved with him and comforted him.
They wept and showed their sorrow.
They sat with him in silence for several days.
Question 8.1: Do you think these actions were helpful to Job?
yes /
no.
Question:
8.2. Why do you think so?
The ministry of caring is a way of being faithful among people who have expereinced pain or loss. Caring is not a program to be accomplished at the church building. Every day brings the opportunity to care for a family member who has experienced death, loneliness, pain, divorce, forced retirement due to physical problems, and lack of income. All parts of life provide opportunities to care. One of the reasons that it is critical for non-ordained people to respond to God's call to care is that they are in every corner of society at any given moment and are able to respond to the hurting persons they see.
Question 9: Read Job 4:1-9 - What was Eliphaz saying? Do you think this was helpful to Job? See also Job 8:1-7 and Job 11:5-10.
(Select the best answer.)
Very helpful to Job.
Not very helpful to Job.
Very hurtful to Job.
The caregiver may not cure or offer miracles, but he/she helps:
a. the healthy to understand their health as God the Creator and Preserver gives it,
b. the person who is temporarily ill to live a more healthy life,
c. those who are suffering to relate their sufferings to the life of Christ.
Question 10: What do you think when something terrible happens to a fellow believer who has been living as holy as possible before God?
The caregiver may also help those in trouble to:
d. understand that God is with them in this trouble,
e. realize that God is a God of steadfast love, who participates in the world's suffering,
f. pray in a continuing conversation with God,
g. build the community of hope in the church by intercessory prayer, tradition, affection, so that the troubled person is not abandoned,
h. commend oneself and the other to the care of God through all stages of life, through the time of death and the hope of the resurrection and that God knows us and has purpose for us always.
How does the caregiver help a sick or dying person?
A. To establish in the church a fellowship of hope by means of intercessory prayer.
B. To live a healthier life, and even through the time of dying to have the hope of resurrection.
C. To understand his health in the light of what God, the Creator and Keeper, has given him.
A Conceptual Basis For Rehabilitation
A conceptual basis for rehabilitation is necessary because a person assisting the person with a disability must have a foundation of beliefs on which he works. A conceptual basis gives one guidelines for professional practice. With a framework, professionals can fully appreciate the work and goals of rehabilitation. Therefore, we will look at some concepts that apply to rehabilitation.
(1) The first concept is called a "wholistic" approach to rehabilitation. This means the whole person is part of the rehabilitation process. It is not possible in life to divide people into individual parts. In the rehabilitation process, one part of the person may be evaluated with psychological testing. But professionals cannot separate the psychological part from the physical part of the person. Since a disabled person is a complex individual and the professionals must know large amounts of information to evaluate exactly, a team approach is often used to understand the whole person. For example, in the hospital rehabilitation setting, the physician, occupational therapist, physical therapist, psychologist, nurse, speech therapist, and recreational therapist may all meet with the handicapped person to discuss his rehabilitation goals. Each professional gives a summary of his findings and the group makes a plan for rehabilitation.
(2) Independent action is a fundamental purpose of rehabilitation for a person. All people have a fundamental right to determine what they want to do as long as they are capable of responsible judgments. People should make their own decisions, set their own goals, and decide how to achieve those goals. The person assisting the client by providing needed information, helping the client to be self-confident in making decisions, and problem solving. The essential condition for successful rehabilitation is the client's knowledge and acceptance of responsibility for the decisions he makes. This is practical because clients are often overcoming dependency on others.
An example of responsibility is alcoholic treatment programs. If the alcoholic client does not agree to be treated, the efforts of the treating organization will not assist the alcoholic. The alcoholic must admit that he is addicted and therefore, can accept treatment. For this reason, sometimes treatment programs do not bring success. A doctor or other professional cannot impose treatment on an alcoholic and expect him to accept it if he does not want to accept it. Only when the alcoholic states to himself and other alcoholics that he has an addiction will he begin to have success. The same is true of other types of rehabilitation. If the rehabilitant does not agree to the plan for rehabilitation, the efforts of the professionals working with him will not be successful.
(3) The right to be treated equally with all other citizens of society is an important part of total rehabilitation. In the U.S. it is described as a "God given" right. The implementation of this concept is to grant opportunity to all citizens without regard to heritage, race, sex, creed, national origin, disability or other personal characteristics. Through rehabilitation services, the handicapped population has the opportunity for independence and productivity. Society has the obligation to equalize the handicapped population for opportunity and independence through rehabilitation services. This means that he has basic rights, especially to function at his maximum level of social usefulness.
At times, governments severely limit the number of disabled persons to be served. Only the most "worthy" or best potential worker will be assisted. While we who are helping the disabled do not make the laws, we can still respect all people and assist in any way we can.
Questions 11-14:
11. Do you think all people are created to be equal in this world?
yes /
no.
12. Was Jesus Christ the best rehabilitation worker?
yes /
no.
13. None of your aquaintances have ever been to an alcoholic treatment session.
true /
false.
14. Out of all the types of people with disabilities, only a few should receive help from the government for rehabilitation.
true /
false.
Where do the ideas about the value of every human being come from? Jesus said some very important things about people who are not "equal" with the rest of society. In Matthew 9:9-13, the Pharisees ask Jesus why he eats with sinners and tax collectors. His reply is that those people who are healthy do not need a doctor, but the sick need treatment. Here Jesus was talking about those people who needed to change and fully understand His words to gain access to the Kingdom of God. For most of His time on earth, Jesus was with those who were poor and needy. He fed them and healed their diseases. The Jewish religious leaders of the time could not understand him because as Messiah, he came as a helper, physical healer and spiritual healer. To them, the Messiah should have come in great power and ostentatiousness.
Question 15: What would you do if you were asked to help a man with an amputated leg to help him feel better about himself?
Jesus' disciples also encouraged the believers to give equality to others. In Romans 12:9-21, Paul talks about the behavior of believers. He specifically says in verse 16, "Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position." In 1 Thessalonians 5:14, he encourages the believers to "warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, and be patient with everyone."
James, who is considered the practical writer, says in chapter 2:1-10, "If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, 'Here's a good seat for you', but say to the poor man, 'You stand here', or 'Sit on the floor at my feet', have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and inherit the Kingdom He promised those who love Him?"
Question 16: If someone has to use a wheelchair, what is your initial reaction to him/her?
Another basic principle of rehabilitation (4) is to focus on the assets and abilities of the person - that is, what he has left after his disability. All physical tasks, activities and jobs demand abilities. Therefore, rehabilitation must focus on the development and utilization of abilities - NOT simply categorizing a person as no longer useful to society. There are scientifically based methods for the proper placement of handicapped workers to the demands of a specific job. We do not simply ignore the disability, but can accentuate the positive abilities of the worker.
The goal is to identify and utilize residual capacities for independence. This independence is defined by each individual, based on his residual capacities.
Question 17: Describe someone who has a disability, but uses his/her abilities to make life better for himself/herself.